Coatesville moving forward on top hirings

Staff Photo By Vinny Tennis
Allen Smith talks to the Coatesville City Council meeting in Coatesville on Monday Oct. 8, 2012. Smith offered to work for the city as assistant city manager without salary until the financial crisis is under control.

COATESVILLE — With Monday’s withdrawal from the trust fund to keep the city operating, the city manager said it is now time to hire a permanent police chief and an assistant manager.

Kirby Hudson said council’s approval to take $2.2 million from the trust fund will keep the city operating for the final three months of the year, and he would like to restart the search for a police chief.

Hudson had chosen state police Maj. John Laufer as the final candidate for the position in September but City Council voted against the hiring and Laufer withdrew his name from consideration.

During the previous search process, Hudson formed a committee of law enforcement professionals and community members that reviewed applications and conducted interviews before he made his final selection. He said he has developed a plan for moving forward with a new search but would not make details available until council has been made aware of it.

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Hudson said the city has received multiple applications for assistant manager and he will begin reviewing those in the coming days and weeks, but his priority is police chief.

“A police chief is more important than an assistant manager, even though I desperately need one,” Hudson said on Tuesday. “I need to put a lid on that really quickly.”

Currently, the police department is led by interim Chief Jim Bell. When asked if Bell would be the candidate Hudson would present to council as permanent chief, Hudson said Bell has not shown interest in the full-time position.

“To my knowledge, Chief Bell has not indicated that he would like full-time employment,” Hudson said.

Hudson said that when Bell originally applied for the position, it was for an interim capacity.

Beyond hiring a chief, Hudson said he would like to administer promotional exams for lieutenant, sergeant and corporal as soon as possible to move officers into the proper leadership positions since the department lost many of those positions with the early retirements that occurred in May.

As for the assistant manager position, former city Weed and Seed Director Allen Smith has applied for the position and on Monday night said he would be willing to work for free until the city’s finances are in order.

Smith had family members, friends and members of the church where he is a pastor come out on Monday night and urge council to hire him for the position.

After numerous speeches, including one from Smith’s wife that lasted nearly 10 minutes, some residents asked council to vote on the hiring of Smith on the spot. Council did not address those requests.

Additionally, city code states that the city manager interviews candidates for assistant manager and selects a final choice for council to approve, much like the process for police chief. Therefore, council could not have immediately hired Smith on Monday, according to the code.

Identities of other candidates for the position have not yet been identified.

About $9 million now remains in Coatesville’s trust fund, which was started around 2000 with $39 million in proceeds from the sale of the city’s water and sewage facilities.